Inviting your parents on a trip, having special portraits taken, or changing your hairstyle, young people in China are finding new ways to celebrate the Spring Festival. While family reunion remains the main theme, the celebration is evolving. You Yang has more from Beijing.
Want to have a sense of ceremony during the Spring Festival? Well, some young Chinese have a new way to observe the traditional holiday. First, taking an artistic photo as a souvenir to record one's changes in a year. Xu Lingfang is a Shanxi native working in Beijing. This time, she decided to take a set of photos with traditional Chinese paper cuttings elements.
XU LINGFANG "It's the new year and I want to give myself a New Year's gift. Taking photos can capture the beauty of the present moment and has a sense of ceremony."
Two hours later, Xu likes many of the photos taken. And plans to post them on social media.
XU LINGFANG "I have selected many images, all of which are very beautiful. The photographer can discover my beautiful side. I will post them twice in my WeChat moments, once on New Year's Eve and once during the Spring Festival."
Besides taking photos, wearing Hanfu, or the traditional clothing of the Chinese Han majority, has also become increasingly popular among young people. They believe the clothes represent ancient Chinese culture as well as the country's modern confidence.
WANG XINRAN "I am wearing Hanfu clothing, and the style dates back to the Ming Dynasty. The top is a winter coat and the bottom is a 'Mamian' skirt. The pattern on my skirt is the peony flower, representing wealth and prosperity. So I think it matches with the atmosphere of the Spring Festival."
There is an ancient Chinese saying that "clothes make the man." Thus it is even more important how one dresses during the grand gathering.
SU XINTONG "I believe the Spring Festival is a traditional holiday in China. Wearing Hanfu, especially clothes like what I am dressing in, which can be traced back to Tang Dynasty, is a good way to combine traditional culture and the festival. We would like to promote our traditional culture this way."
Some people may want to update their look during the Lunar New Year. That is why hair salons are always overcrowded ahead of the Festival. 30-year-old Beijing local Zhang Chen is at one of the city's most renowned salons.
She's decided to change her hairstyle to bring in the New Year.
ZHANG CHEN "The Spring Festival is just around the corner, a new hairstyle will bring me new feelings. I think with a new look, when I go to reunions with my family members and friends, they also have a fresh feeling."
Salon staff say that since early January, customer numbers have surged to about 700 per day. Times change, celebrations change, but what remains unchanged is the Chinese people's love and appreciation of the Spring Festival. After thousands of years of evolution, it has always been the connections of culture and family bonds that are central in the hearts of Chinese people.
You Yang, CGTN, Beijing.